What is Visual Studio Code, What is it Used For? | VS Code Installation

Visual Studio Code is a modern code editor and development tool. This tool offers many functionalities used in the software development process together, making coding easier and more efficient. In this article, we explain what Visual Studio Code is, what it does, and how to install it.

What Is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code is one of the popular source code editors. Visual Studio Code is open-source and free to use. It is compatible with operating systems like Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Visual Studio Code is easy to install and doesn't take up much space. It supports various programming languages such as C++, Java, and Python. It allows adding essential extensions like debuggers, cloud, and web development tools. 

With its user-friendly interface, Visual Studio Code enables programmers to write comprehensible code. It also simplifies the programming process. It allows the user to modify the editor according to usage, meaning the user can download libraries from the internet and integrate them with the code according to their requirements.

Features of Visual Studio Code

• Support for Various Programming Languages: Visual Studio Code supports multiple programming languages. 
• Code Completion: Visual Studio Code can detect if any piece of code is left incomplete. This feature increases typing speed and accelerates the coding process. It also automatically completes common variable syntaxes and variable declarations.
• Cross-Platform Support: Visual Studio Code is cross-platform. It runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. This allows developers to write their projects using any operating system they prefer.
• Debugging: Visual Studio Code offers special tools to make the debugging process easier. During debugging, variable values, program flow, and error codes can be monitored.
• Code Review: Code review allows developers to review the code they write to detect errors and improve code quality. Visual Studio Code offers special tools to simplify the code review process.
• Extension Support: Visual Studio Code offers support for a large number of extensions. These extensions provide special functions for programming languages, themes, tools, databases, etc.
• Web Support: Visual Studio Code comes with built-in support for web applications, allowing web applications to be created and supported in Visual Studio Code.
• Multiple Projects: Visual Studio Code can open projects containing multiple files/folders simultaneously. 
• Commenting: Visual Studio Code allows commenting on code.

Advantages of Visual Studio Code

1. Offers cross-platform support.
2. It is lightweight. 
3. It is open-source and free. It can be used without paying any license fees.
4. Provides support for web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JSON.
5. Visual Studio Code has an easy-to-use interface. 
6. Makes the code writing process faster and more efficient.
7. Offers high performance.
8. Visual Studio Code receives continuous updates. These updates include elements such as new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.

Which Languages Does Visual Studio Code Support?

The technologies supported by Visual Studio Code are: 

• C#
• Visual Basic
• JavaScript
• R
• XML
• Python
• CSS
• GO
• PERL

Visual Studio Code System Requirements

These requirements are sufficient to perform the basic functions of Visual Studio Code. However, when working on larger projects or using more extensions, you may need higher RAM and processor power. Now that you know the system requirements of Visual Studio Code, you can proceed to the download stage.

How to Download Visual Studio Code?

Installing Visual Studio Code is quite simple and fast. To download Visual Studio Code, you need to do the following:

1. Visit the official website of Visual Studio Code. 
2. Select the version appropriate for your operating system and click on the “Download” option.
3. Open the downloaded file and start the installation process.
4. When the installation process is complete, Visual Studio Code will open automatically.

How Does Visual Studio Code Work?

To run code in Visual Studio:

1. Click 'Run Code' in the title menu.
2. Press F1 and select 'Run Code'.

or 

1. Right-click in the text editor and select 'Run Code'.
2. Use the Ctrl+Alt+N shortcut.

Debugging in Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code offers an integrated debugging tool for many programming languages. This feature makes it easy to debug code and helps find errors. To open the debugger in Visual Studio Code, you can follow these steps:

1. Set up the debug configuration.
2. Go to the "Debug" tab and select "Start Debugging". 
3. In the debugging interface, you can step through your code, monitor variable values, and find errors. 

Extensions for Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code has approximately 38,000 extensions that support different programming languages. You can manage extensions from the Marketplace, the extensions sidebar in Visual Studio Code, or the command palette. For the top 10 popular Visual Studio Code extensions, you can check out this article.
 

What Is the Difference Between Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio?

Visual Studio is a fully-featured IDE. Visual Studio Code, on the other hand, is a text editor. While Visual Studio Code is lightweight but extensible, Visual Studio is heavy but comprehensive. Visual Studio can generate new projects from templates. Visual Studio runs on Windows and Mac. Visual Studio Code runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

You might be thinking about whether to choose Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code. The answer to this question completely depends on what you are doing. 

If you are developing specifically with a language supported by Visual Studio, such as C#, C, C++, or Python, Visual Studio is probably the best choice for you.

Visual Studio Code Shortcuts

Visual Studio Code shortcuts can save you time while working and increase your productivity. Here are some general VS Code shortcuts you should know:

For the full list of Visual Studio Code shortcuts, you can check out this page.